STORM-TESTED BATANES CRUMBLES IN QUAKE; 9 DEAD
Disaster and local officials in the province known for its resilience to typhoons faced an unfamiliar challenge on Saturday, as they scrambled to deliver relief teams and supplies after nine people were killed and 60 others were injured by a series of earthquakes that started with a 5.4-magnitude tremor.
Malacañang said President Duterte had been briefed on the situation and he had ordered concerned agencies to bring back normalcy as soon as possible.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the Itbayat airport was found to be serviceable but residents had immediate need of tents, food, water and generator sets.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said in a situation report that the first quake struck this town of 2,970 people around 4:15 a.m. on Saturday.
Twenty other temblors followed in other areas of Batanes, according to earthquake data from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Bed sways like hammock
Most of the quakes were imperceptible but the third, near Itbayat, reached magnitude 5.9 at 7:37 a.m. and the 10th, near the capital Basco, was measured at magnitude 5.8 at 9:24 a.m.
The first quake killed five people while four other people were killed in aftershocks, NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad told Reuters.
During the first quake, the ground shook and tremors continued for a few seconds, rousing residents from their sleep and sending them into panic.
“Our bed and everything were swaying from side to side like a hammock,” Roldan Esdicul, head of the provincial disaster office, told the Associated Press (AP) from Basco.
Hospital damaged
Esdicul said he was already at the capitol with Batanes Gov. Marilou Cayco when the 10th quake struck.
They, and several residents, were busy preparing food and provisions to be sent to Itbayat by cargo planes sent by the military’s Northern Luzon Command.
The town’s hospital was damaged, prompting authorities to bring patients to a roofed basketball court to protect them from heavy rain.
Scores of houses collapsed or were damaged in Itbayat, including the bell tower of the 19th-century Sta. Maria de Mayan Church.
Pictures posted on social media showed the church’s severely damaged belfry after the first quake and other photos showed the top of the tower toppled after the third tremor.
“Residents were shocked when they saw a house collapse right in front of them,” said Florante Ponce of Barangay Sta. Rosa, who rushed with his neighbors to find survivors.
They found 31-year-old Genwar Mina, who apparently tried to hold up a boulder-sized slab to protect his girlfriend, Rose Ann Manzo. The slab crushed Mina but Manzo survived.
Rescuers also recovered the bodies of 5-day-old Haisley Cheffe Naquita and 10-day-old Fiona Valiente from collapsed houses.
The quake also killed Tito Asa, 88; Teresita Gulaga, 76; Fausta Caan, 73; Eva Valiente, 19; Mary Rose Valiente, 13; and Edwin Ponce, according to the Batanes Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC).
The PDRRMC said 60 other residents were hurt and some of the injured were flown to Basco General Hospital in the capital town.
Power supply down
The island still had no power at press time due to damage to the underground electrical cables in Itbayat but military planes were expected to deliver generator sets.
Residents remained encamped outside of their homes for fear of stronger quakes, and Agnes Salengua-Nico, a teacher of Itbayat Central Elementary School, said they could not even cook.
“We’re now out in the farm with our three pigs because we’re very, very scared of the aftershocks,” Nico told AP, her voice still trembling.
Families stayed in tents set up in the town plaza while other families stayed closer to their homes.
“It’s traumatic,” Itbayat school teacher Edna Gato told Reuters. “We’re still feeling strong aftershocks.”
“New houses were damaged and old houses, which we were preserving, were completely destroyed,” she said, referring to the traditional stone homes for which the province is famous.